


30 Day BenKaru Challenge -- Day 8, Flower Shop AU

by tinynerdlet



Series: 30 Day BenKaru Challenge [8]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:38:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7990477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinynerdlet/pseuds/tinynerdlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time the man came to buy flowers, they were for his mom. Hikaru didn't think much about it. Then the man started coming back. Although his interest is piqued, Hikaru's sure the man's not there to see him. Not until he talks with a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	30 Day BenKaru Challenge -- Day 8, Flower Shop AU

**Author's Note:**

> [See Story On Tumblr](http://spoopynerdlet.tumblr.com/post/148825781763/day-8-of-benkaru-flower-shop-au)

The first time the man came in, he was buying flowers for his mom. Hikaru hadn’t thought much of it. People bought flowers for their mom all the time. The transaction was no more unusual than any of the others he’d done before.

Then the man returned the next week. Flowers for his mother again. They talked briefly, mostly about the variety of plants in the shop. When the man paid, Hikaru took a glance at his debit card. The name printed on it was Ben Jung.

Ben came back again the next week. More flowers. This time for his sister.

They talked quite a bit during that third meeting. Ben had asked him all sorts of questions. “Do you have any siblings?” No. “How long have you worked here?” Five years. “Do you like working here?” I love it. Then, with a gentle smile, Ben left again.

Hikaru thought about Ben quite a bit after that conversation. He was sure Ben had always come in wearing button-ups, slacks, and a light cardigan. A teacher? A professor? Whatever the career, he looked good doing it. His smile helped. He didn’t show his teeth, but the kindness and joy danced along his lips and eyes with ease. It was contagious. So much so that Hikaru couldn’t help but smile as he talked to Nyota about Ben when she stopped by for lunch that afternoon. It made a smile of her own spread on her lips as he explained the three visits, the flowers, the talk, the man. When he finished, Hikaru was sure she’d remind him that the man was a customer, that he probably had a girlfriend, that he definitely wouldn’t be gay. Instead, her words were simple.

“I think he likes you.”

Hikaru almost choked on his salad. Before he could manage words, she spoke again.

“This is the third time he’s seen you in a month and he bought flowers for his mom twice and then some for his sister. Who does that?”

She had a point. Hikaru had his doubts though. When he expressed them, she talked him down.

“Just ask him next time. In the worst case, he really is just there to buy flowers and you’ll still get money out of him.”

Ben returned the week after that. His voice was softer this time. He requested very specific flowers, yellow acacia and white gardenia, and then asked if they also sold cards. “The kind that you put in bouquets,” he’d said. Hikaru said they did and he could write something out, if Ben wanted him to. Ben declined, bought the flowers and a card, then left. Hikaru didn’t get a chance to ask anything.

That evening, as the sun started to dip down over the skyline, Hikaru closed up shop. He left the building, locked the door, and turned to make his way to the parking garage where he’d left his car.

“Excuse me.”

Hikaru looked towards the voice. There was Ben. He’d changed clothes since their last talk. The button-up and cardigan combination he wore that afternoon was replaced with a tee shirt and a blazer. A nice blazer. It hugged his body in the right places, making him seem broader, taller. Handsomer. They made eye contact for a moment before Ben looked at the ground.

“This might seem forward of me,” he said, “But I was hoping you would accept these and an invitation to go out to dinner.”

Ben’s hands came around from behind his back. The yellow and white bouquet was in them. The card stuck between the petals. Hikaru walked towards him soundlessly, took the bouquet, and slipped the card out of the petals. There were words on both sides. The first side, printed meticulously, read:

_HIKARU: From Japanese, meaning “light” or meaning “brightness”._

The other, written just as well, said:

_To the light that grows the most beautiful gifts._

Hikaru said yes.


End file.
